It’s ladies night at Sho Cho, and the Japanese bar and restaurant is packed with girly gatherings who are all in high spirits.
But with free-flowing grape, sparkling and mixed drinks offered late into the night, there’s no mystery about why the event is so popular.
It’s just about cool enough for us to sit outside by the Grand Canal as well, and, as always, we’re totally floored by the lovely view of the illuminated Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and it’s reflection in the water.
The staff are already busy attending to the constant stream of drinks orders from the lively tables around us, but they’re still very polite and efficient.
On our server’s recommendation, we start off with the dragon maki roll (the chef’s special). She tells us it’s the best on the menu but also quite spicy, and she’s certainly not wrong on either account.
The dramatic roll is filled with meaty shrimp and silky avocado, and although it’s topped with a fiery sauce, the flavours of the trendy green fruit and shellfish aren’t drowned out at all.
In fact, it all works together brilliantly, and with a shrimp (or dragon) tail sticking out of the end, it looks very impressive, too.
Next we move on to the rock shrimp tempura (because you can never have too much battered shrimp in your life, can you?)
We have high hopes about it, and we’re thrilled to discover that it outdoes our expectations.The creamy sauce is delicately flavoured with garlic and chilli, and although there’s a bit of a kick it’s nowhere near as spicy as the punchy dragon roll.
Each piece goes wonderfully with the pile of crunchy lettuce that it’s served with, and the tangy soy dressing offsets the creamy coating perfectly.
Even the batter is lighter than we expected, and we make short work of finishing it all off.
Finally, we go for the salmon teriyaki, which features a generous portion of pink fish, coated in sweet sticky sauce.
Topped with some tasty ginger pickle and served with a portion of sticky rice, it’s a super main course that fills us up nicely.
We conclude that the expertly made dishes are just as good as the very special setting.
